A to Z of HMP Larkhall
I
Ice Dagger
Chipped out of one of the freezers by Julie J and then used to fatally stab Fenner in the neck. As the evil one bled to death on the floor of the hanging cell, the weapon used to kill him melted away without leaving a trace (s7ep10). As a murder weapon, the ice dagger was an example of twisted genius comparable only to the episode of Tales of the Unexpected in which a woman clubbed her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb and then served it up, roasted, to the police officers who were investigating his murder.
“I don’t do scared”
This phrase – an icy response to an attempt at intimidation by Shell – was Yvonne’s defining moment on G-Wing. Not only did it put the fear of God into Shell, it also hailed the beginning of Yvonne’s long reign as G-Wing’s top-dog (s1ep10).
“I love you, Nikki”
If you’d listened very carefully on the night of Tuesday 4th July 2000, you would have heard the sound of millions of Bad Girls fans celebrating as Helen finally uttered those words (s2ep13)... well, they had all waited for nineteen hours spread over 2 years!
Intensive Development Scheme
The Prison Service’s fast-track promotion scheme for promising officers. Frances was so impressed by Selena’s work on G-Wing that she recommended her for a place on the scheme (s6ep9).
Inter Library Loan Scheme
Used and abused by Snowball and Ritchie as a method of smuggling the components of their bomb into Larkhall (s4ep15). Also used by one of Natalie’s cronies to smuggle her a map that detailed the escape route she should take on her upcoming outside visit (s7ep9).
Internet
Used extensively by G-Wing’s inmates, both as a way of advertising telephone sex-lines (s2ep4) and as a source of research. Roisin and Cassie tracked down the location of Buki’s son Lennox via the Internet (s4ep15), Julie S researched breast cancer treatment (s5ep8) and Yvonne used it to find out that Snowball was a porn star (s4ep13).
Inter Prison Visit
When a husband and wife, or indeed a common-law/same sex couple are serving time in different prisons, an inter prison visit can be arranged in which one partner is escorted to the other. Yvonne was expecting a visit from her husband Charlie and was distraught when he cancelled at the last minute and sent a message telling her that he never wanted to see her again (s2ep13). Shaz and Denny’s inter prison visit ended in tragedy when Snowball’s bomb exploded in the library (s4ep16).
Investigations
These could be internal (headed by Area Management) or external (instigated by the police) depending on the seriousness of the incident. Thanks to the number of escapes, suicides, murders and all-round skulduggery on G-Wing, we’ve seen quite a number of them over the course of eight years.
‘I Will Survive’
A disco classic beloved by every drunken female clubber and partygoer in the UK. Everyone on G-Wing joined in with a mass sing along of the song when they heard that Monica had been released on appeal (s1ep10). Tina gave a solo rendition of the song during the G-Wing Prison Idol competition (s8ep8).